We’re pleased to release our very first podcast!
In this episode Darrell Burkey, president of CASE, talks about the history of the organisation. We look at the ideas behind providing shared IT services to the community development sector. Real world examples of CASE’s work are cited as proof that CASE’s model has made a difference to many lives Australia wide. Head over to the CASE podcast page to listen in!
There’s a cool little video floating around right now that gives a very brief introduction to how the Internet was formed. It contains attractive animation and good voiceovers and for those new to the history, a whole bunch of terms to google later! It runs for almost 9 minutes and is well worth the watch:
Crikey is carrying a story on an academic report regarding Australia’s Clean Feed controversy reminding us of the fact that eyes are on this country, learning from our actions. The Crikey article is long and in depth. The report itself is heavy going but it’s essential reading for anyone wanting to stay informed on the topic. From Crikey:
The rest of the world has been smirking at Stephen Conroy’s ill-conceived plan to censor Australia’s Internet for a while now, but a new study published by Brooklyn Law School entitled “Filtering in Oz: Australia’s Foray Into Internet Censorship” is a serious embarrassment.This report is important. Not only is it authored by a reputable and neutral foreign observer but it also focuses more on the legitimacy of the scheme than the technical concerns, and it finds some serious problems. Despite the sober language, phrases like “troubling”, “worrisome”, “politically motivated” and “unaccountable” are common.
The One Laptop per Child project, due to the financial crisis, has had to reduce its operating costs like so many other companies. From the official Wiki:
“Like many other nonprofits that are facing tough economic times, One Laptop per Child must downsize in order to keep costs in line with fewer financial resources. Today we are reducing our team by approximately 50% and there will be salary reductions for the remaining 32 people. While we are saddened by this development, we remain firmly committed to our mission of getting laptops to children in developing countries. We thank team members who are departing for their contributions to this important mission.” (Source)
Google (a main contributor of money to OLPC Inc.) has also cut costs this week demonstrating the big and the small are all subject to this global financial crisis. However, the cuts shouldn’t have any impact on the day-to-day lives of those involved with the OLPC project.
While attending eGames 2008 I was approached by the Internode content team, expensive video camera and all, to do a short interview about the One Laptop per Child program. Mostly it’s a rundown of the XO unit itself, but we talk about the ideas behind the project and what it might mean for Australia, too.
You can watch the whole video here!
Joomla, a free open source content managment system, has been of interest to CASE for quite some time. We’ve been developing a service that allows members to upgrade their existing, old, webpages to Joomla in order to reap the benefits of this platform. Joomla 1.5 has a significant developer presence in Melbourne and that’s where this year’s Joomla! Day is to be held. The day is only $75 to attend and covers things like installation, templating, administration and tips and tricks for users, designers and administrators. I’ll be going along and will report my findings on this blog. If you’re in the area or sufficiently interested, make sure to come along to Melbourne Joomla Day running on Febuary the 7th 2009, followed up by a smaller second day of workshops. Registrations are open now, so get in quick!
Whirlpool, a long standing and reputable source of broadband industry news in Australia is once again running a survey that will outline the state of affairs in broadband for Australia. Because this isn’t a marketing survey people always seem more inclined to participate, last year an amazing 18,000 respondants gave their opinion on their Interenet connection. The survey is open until January 31st 2009, so if you’re a broadband user consider registering your opinions at the Whirlpool Australian Broadband Survey.
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